2008: Poland Gets a New Bridge

July 11, 2008

In eastern Poland, a long-awaited bridge in the city of Pulawy was officially opened. This arch bridge, which spans the Vistula (the country’s longest river), carries motor vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians. Construction on the bridge began on March 7, 2006. The European Regional Development Fund helped provide financing for this project.

Those taking part in the inaugural festivities for the bridge included Cezary Grabarczyk, who served as Poland’s minister of infrastructure from 2007 to 2011. This structure was formally named after Pope John Paul II (1920-2005), who had been born in the town of Wadowice in southern Poland and was the first non-Italian pontiff since the 16^th century.  

The John Paul II Bridge (also known as the New Pulawy Bridge) is 3,406 feet (1,038.2 meters) long, with its longest span measuring 696 feet (212 meters) in length. This bridge holds the record as the longest arch bridge in Poland.

Photo Credit: Lukke (licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license at https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/deed.en)

For more information on the John Paul II Bridge (New Pulawy Bridge), please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Paul_II_Bridge,_Pu%C5%82awy and https://structurae.net/en/structures/new-pulawy-bridge